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Toledo Teens Experience The Word Made Flesh
What is it like to attend a Steubenville Youth Conference? During the second High School Youth Conference, June 25-27, we followed a youth group from the Diocese of Toledo to find out. Posted: Tuesday, July 6, 2010
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STEUBENVILLE, OH—Chanting, jumping, fists pumping in the air, 90 youth from the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, packed the front rows of the Finnegan Fieldhouse on June 25, impatient for the worship band to take the stage and open the 34th annual High School Youth Conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville. With bright teal shirts proclaiming “Holy Toledo!” and an infectious enthusiasm, the Toledo group stood out in the crowd of almost 2,300 youth. Paul Gagnet from St. Joseph Parish in Maumee led the group—which led many others—in counting down the last 10 seconds to the conference start.
“Every year I come closer to God at the conference,” Gagnet said. “I haven't really experienced God like this anywhere else before—it's amazing!”
Worship leader Bob Rice and his band, mostly students from Franciscan University, bounded onto the stage as the lights came up and the fieldhouse erupted in cheers.
For the rest of the evening, Rice led the youth in songs of praise to God, while conference host Ennie Hickman and other speakers began to unpack the weekend's theme, "The Word Became Flesh."
“Be open to being amazed by the Word—whether you feel it or not, whether you know it or not, there is nothing more amazing!” said Hickman, a missionary with ADORE Ministries.
Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, author of Spiritual Freedom, began the evening's keynote address by carrying a six-week-old baby onto the stage, giving teens a visible reminder of what it means that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, became flesh. He invited them to marvel that “this Word that was power and energy became flesh, just like us, and became powerless, just like us. Imagine the vulnerability!” he said, holding up the baby. “The Word of God wanted us to be able to relate to him, to reveal the love of the Father by dying for us. Because the Word became flesh, humanity is forever united to God!”
After Father Pivonka's talk, all 2,300 teens fell to their knees as Father Mike Joly, from the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, brought in the Eucharist for a half hour of adoration. Many were inspired to visit Christ the King Chapel for confession afterward, either that evening or over the rest of the weekend. Chapel staff estimate that at least 900 teens received the sacrament between Friday evening and Sunday morning.
The early morning fog was still heavy on campus Saturday morning at 6:50 a.m. as several hundred high school youth lined up early for breakfast. A group of girls from Toledo, in lavender shirts this morning, stopped at the chapel to pray before going to eat.
“You never know what God has in store for you – I always get something new out of the conference,” said Claire Rigoulot of St. Joseph Parish in Sylvania, who has attended the conference four times now. “This year I'm hoping for a closer relationship with God and my sister, who's here this year too.”
By 8:15 a.m., the fieldhouse was full and Rice had the youth on their feet, clapping and singing along with the band, with an energy no amount of coffee could have given them. Hickman came on stage a few minutes later, trading jokes with Rice before settling down to the morning's work.
“Truth is like summer sausage,” Hickman said. “It challenges you. Do you really want to know the truth? If I really knew what was in summer sausage, I probably wouldn't eat it. When you know the truth, your life has to change.”
In the morning keynote, Deacon Ralph Poyo, founder of New Evangelization Ministries, reminded the teens of Pope Benedict XVI's message that they were made for greatness.
“What the world tells us about who we should be is wrong!” he proclaimed, to deafening applause. “We were created to share life with God in the beatific vision, but we must live the truth, we must understand God's plan for us.”
Deacon Poyo's message that Satan robs them of their dignity and lies to them, telling them that they must cheapen themselves to become beautiful or desirable, resonated with the teens.
He told the young men that their natural inclination to be competitive and aggressive is good, as long as they are calling each other on to holiness and sacrificially giving themselves away for the good of others. To the young women, he offered the example of Our Lady, who is beautiful because of her yes to God.
Saturday afternoon, teens and adults had the opportunity to participate in workshops on personal prayer, the Mass, evangelization, and purity in dating. Confession was also available, and youth eagerly embraced the opportunity, standing in long lines for more than an hour for the chance to talk to a priest.
“Being here shifts me in the right direction,” said Amanda Saunders, from St. Joan of Arc Parish in Maumee. “When I'm not here, it can be really hard to stay close to God.”
Popular author and speaker Chris Padgett gave Saturday night's keynote, keeping the teens laughing and cheering as he spoke about love and today's culture. He began by addressing the fascination with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight: “Meyer describes him as 'cold and marblesque'—if that's love, go lay your face on the cold marble floor, or stick your head in the freezer and stab yourself with Grandma's knitting needle! Your generation is confused about love,” Padgett told the laughing crowd.
He read Dr. Seuss's book, Oh, The Places You'll Go, to illustrate to the teens that being weak and being broken are not the same, and that they were created for greatness.
“You're called to run, to stumble, to drag yourselves and your friends into the presence of God, and ask him to renew, to heal, to fill you,” Padgett said. He invited youth who had not dedicated their lives to Christ to come forward; many teens from the Toledo group stood up and went to the altar to pray with prayer ministers.
Then Father Pivonka processed in with the Eucharist for adoration. For an hour, youth worshiped the Lord in love and surrender. They prayed, sang and wept as the Holy Spirit made his presence felt while Father Pivonka carried the Blessed Sacrament through the crowd.
“It was amazing. When you're here, you can feel the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. You know beyond a reasonable doubt that he's alive and among us,” St. Joan of Arc youth minister Paul Davis said. “It changes lives. If I could bring kids here every week for a conference, I would. This just doesn't happen anywhere else.”
Sunday morning, the boys gathered in the Glory Tent with Chris Padgett, and the girls gathered in the fieldhouse with Catholic singer Joia Farmer to talk about chastity and how to become the person God intended them to be. Chastity pledge cards were handed out to all of the youth, and they were encouraged to take them home and pray about the decision to sign them.
The weekend concluded with Mass, which was alive with the energy of 2,300 youth in love with their faith and the Lord, fully participating in the liturgy.
Hickman reminded youth, “Worship is our response to God, it's not a performance, not just something we do once a year here at Steubenville. ” He challenged them to bring that love and enthusiasm for their faith home with them, and make it a part of their worship in their own parishes.
“It was just amazing,” said Pat Reed from St. Joan of Arc Parish. “It's hard to go back, because now we've become closer to God, and Satan tries to get us away from him.”
“Being here makes you aware of what you're living for,” added Shannon O'Hearn, also from St. Joan of Arc.
Many of the youth come to the conference believing the lies of the world, Deacon Poyo said, but they undergo a radical transformation. “It's beautiful—we try to help them recognize that Jesus is real, to open their hearts to the Lord, and he shows up.”